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Growing up Jerome Brown seemed special he had always been the biggest fastest and strongest out of all his friends. It became pretty clear he was different when he showed up to Parrott Middle School at 6'0 235. Jerome played basketball , baseball and football , but as a Kid wasn't aloud to practice cuase of his larger then life size and natural physicalness.
Jerome grew up and finally went to attended Hernando High School. He was bigger and stronger then ever, a 6'2 265 lbs freshman. He was a Genetic freak, he grew to 6'3 and 285 by his senior season. His highschool football coach said Jerome simply wasn't aloud to practice do to his strength and over aggressiveness it became a concern with parents of the high school kids on the team. Even parents from other highschool were stressing there concern about playing against Jerome Brown. USA Today ranked him as a one of the top 50 football player in the country .Jerome was offered several scholarships but opted to stay in Florida and signed with The University of Miami.

Jerome Takes Over The U

Jerome Brown came Miami with a goal to make the NFL. he was Hungry , Raw and Talented with all the Potential in the World. He Finally devolped into a skilled defensive lineman under defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt .Remember Jerome do to the fear he caused had never practice tell he arrrived at Miami. Brown prooved him self early and became a major part of the team as a freshman and he never looked back, even playing in the National Championchip as a freshman.

Brown and The Canes vrs Paterno's Lions

1987, The Hurricanes were heavily favored to beat Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions in The National championship

The Hurricanes led by Jerome Brown arrived on the National Championship scene with a big bang of controversy. Paterno's Lion had came off the plane dressed extremely well and put together in nice suits and showed a solid clean cut image. The Canes who were led of the plane by Jerome Brown, were dress head to toe in military fatigues with bandanas tied around there heads, sagging there pants and sporting gold chains, they were ripped apart by the media to be "thugs" and "bad guys"
Jerome was the outspoken leader of this Miami team, they all followed and listened to him, he was a natural leader. He was quoted making several references to football as the same as war and the national championship as a battle, and he really believed The Hurricanes were soldiers. He pushed the limits when he led a Miami Hurricane walk out of a traditional dinner to honor both teams. He was quoted to say "Did the Japanese go sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed them?". The day of the game in a press conference Jerome Browns spoke out to Penn St. Quarterback John Shaffer, Brown was quoted to say ""I think they're nothing. Shaffer thought he had a bad bowl game last year. That was nothing. After this game, he'll wish he'd graduated. The dude's about to star in a nightmare."

Penn State won 14-10 when Pete Giftopoulus intercepted a Vinny Testeverde pass at the goal line with 18 seconds left in the game. One of the biggest upsets in college football history
to read a great article on this game Click Here

Brown Declares For The Draft

Jerome finished his Miami career with 21 sacks,19 tackles for loss, 5 fumbles forced and 4 fumble recoveries. He was also a finalist for the 1986 Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. He left a Legacy at The U as the most intimidating and influential leader the school had ever seen. It was Easy to see Brown would be a top 10 pick and future Pro bowler for years to come.

Jerome Brown Anchors The"Gang Green"

1987, Jerome Brown is drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1st round with the 9th overall pick, Head Coach Buddy Ryan upon shaking Browns hand was quoted to say "he’s a bigger then life kind of guy" Ryan right there on the spot named Brown the starting right tackle, Jerome Brown was drafted to add depth and bolster a already elite group of defensive lineman in Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, and Mike Pitts together with Brown they formed one of the best defensive lines the league had ever seen.

Jerome’s hero was Reggie White and Reggie took White under his wing and the two became friends very quickly. Jerome had looked up to Reggie ever sense he had attended a High School football camp where White was one of the instructors while playing for Tennessee. Reggie was the most amazing man on the planet to a young Jerome and he was finally playing with Reggie and befriending Reggie.

Jerome would go on to win defensive rookie of the year and well deserved. His stats weren't to impressive he posted 4 sacks 2 int's and 1 fumble recovery. tho he was doubled teamed and sometimes even had to be tripled teamed on some plays. This show of raw dominance and toughness immediately pushed him to the top of the league as one of the best defensive tackles in the league even as a rookie.

1989, Brown produced great numbers from the defensive tackle spot including 10.5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries even tho battling several injuries threw the season and constantly being double teamed. He was some how cheated out of the Pro Bowl.

Jerome Brown finally made the Pro bowl in 90' and 91' despite in 1990 only producing 1 sack but had 5 fumble recoveries that year. he more a less tho made the pro bowl that year do to the fact he simply just demanded such attention from the opposing offense. Offensive coordinators found it hard to focus on Reggie or the other supporting cast of the Gang Green when Jerome was anchoring that middle , leaving other Eagles defenders to open the game up and to make the big plays. Jerome tho came back in the best shape of career in 91 after building a Gym by him self at his home in Brooksville. He came back stronger and leaner and produced 9 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries proving again to be the most dominant defensive tackle in the game and a well deserved pro bowl selection.

Brown only played five season before his fatal accident, in five season and 79 games he racked up 29 sacks 3 int's and 10 fumble recoveries and he best known as a force against the run and was one of those rare guys that demanded a double team every single down of football. Brown was a amazing performer for us and was the true heart of vicious "Gang Green" Defense.

Jerome Battles The Ku Klux Klan

After Jerome’s rookie season , he went back home to Brooksville for the off season. The Ku Klux Klan had showed up in Brooksville to throw a rally. Jerome caught wind of this. The KKK starts to throw there little rally, Jerome shows up on the scene of the rally in his 86' Bronco XL
blasting gangster rap as loud as possible , the rally is disrupted and anger fastly ensues in some of the members of the Ku Klux Klan. Jerome gets out of his Bronco and physically breaks apart the rally and removes the Klan from Brooksville. it was described as a ugly and very physically incident , Jerome was unharmed but for some of the member of the KKK that Jerome dealt with were not as fortunate. he was very outspoken about racial issues in the south. He stood up those who hate.

Jeromes Big Heart

Jerome was a rough , mean , nasty football player who was very outspoken, and was notorious for trash talking and intimidation . He was viewed by many as a bad boy. Jerome wasn't a bad boy, he was known by those close to him and those outside of his inner circle as one of the most giving people in professional sports. Jerome took the time to read letters from his fans and even hand write back them. He even helps family’s out that wrote him, including families that needed help with medical bills or shelter or other emergencies. Jerome put old troubled friends in college and took care of his family and other families of his hometown. Giving was a way of life for Jerome he gave to many charities and never told the media or anyone. He also would visit and hang out with young fans of his that wrote him seemed trouble, he would just hang out with them and be there friend and give them direction. one great story , Jerome set up a football clinic for over 70 under privilege kids. The School was suppose to provide the transportation they at the last minute backed out, Jerome rents two greyhound bus and hired two drives to take the kid to the football clinic He did these things out of the good of his heart and never wanted or needed the recognition. He had a bad boy Image with the Media but Jerome Brown had a big heart with good intentions.

Tragedy

June 25th, 1992. Jerome Brown along with his nephew Gus are pronounced dead . He was driving his 1991 Corvette ZR-1 hit a bad pothole and careened off the road into a tree at well over 100 mph. The City of Philadelphia stopped. We lost not a football player but a great human being. with Jerome its not about football, We just want Jerome back. Jerome was buried in his hometown of Brooksville. every Eagle showed up and in tribute to Jerome, all the Eagles players passed by,took off their ties and placed them on the casket.

R.I.P.

Jerome the hero to so many, a sign of hope to a city, a wonderful soul to all

The Sadest Game

September 6, 1992, Season opener. No one was there for the game, every one was there for Jerome, The Eagles retired #99 for ever, and Jerome’s parents were presented with a framed #99 jersey. they took a moment of silence. The Vet stood still, it was said you could just hear breathing of the people not a single sound. The Eagles beat the Saints in that game 15-13 in the most emotional game that was ever played in Philadelphia ._________________

Last edited by Bednarik60 on Sun May 06, 2007 2:23 am; edited 5 times in total

A truly remarkable post, and a great tribute. I can still remember the day my dad told me about it. I just went numb; I still didn't fully understand the finality of death at the time (I was just a kid), and so it wasn't until I watch that first game and saw his absence that I truly realised what it meant. The greatest Eagles tragedy of all time.

My dad told me about him when I was younger and that he was going to be the best DT in the NFL for years and years to come, and than the tragedy happened. I never really knew much about his background, stats, etc.. just knew that he was a really young and promising player, that was a beast along with Reggie White.

Great post, keep teaching us more about our Eagles history._________________

My dad told me about him when I was younger and that he was going to be the best DT in the NFL for years and years to come, and than the tragedy happened. I never really knew much about his background, stats, etc.. just knew that he was a really young and promising player, that was a beast along with Reggie White.

Great post, keep teaching us more about our Eagles history.

Thanks by the way

We have a younger Forum , Steegles has been doing a great job keeepin us educated, and we can all do our part here and there. im only 20 so i think i was like 5 or 6? when it Jerome Died , i was in the car with my dad when they announced on Portlands sport radio. my father was born and raised in Philly and the Eagles are everything to him, as soon as they announced his death , my dad pullled over and everything got quiet and he simply didnt say much for the next couple of days, he finally later on that week sat me down and explained that "Jerome was the Hope for the City" now hes gone ...........................

i just hope when we win the Super Bowl, the Team stops and says at the podium that there "Bringing it Home for Jerome"

if Jerome Kept playing we would of had atleast 2 rings, Reggie and couple other key veterans would of never left, Reggie said the Locker room was just to hallow with out Jerome he couldnt stand it_________________